Homemade Rib Rub v1

On Saturday I had the privilege of cooking for a small get-together about an hour from my house. I cooked 12 racks of ribs on my Meadow Creek SQ36 Offset Smoker and 10 pounds of shrimp on my Weber Kettle Grill.

I’ll tell you more about the cook in my next blog post later this week, but first, let’s talk about the rub.

My favorite seasoning to use on ribs is Meadow Creek Brisket Rub. The evening before the cook, I realized that I have no where nearly enough for a dozen racks of ribs. I have various kinds of seasonings sitting around, but I wanted them all to be the same, and I wanted a certain flavor. Time was running out, so the only thing left to do was completely freak out or mix my own.

Thankfully, I had a good idea of where to start since I had a recipe that was supposed to be close to the Meadow Creek Brisket Rub. However, it had been years since I used this recipe, and when I mixed up a batch, it certainly didn’t have the flavor profile I was looking for.

We kept mixing and tweaking the recipe until we found a combination that’s pretty amazing on ribs!

One way to try your seasoning on food quickly is on a fried egg.

I am calling this recipe “version 1” and look forward to tweaking it the next time I cook ribs. I used Real Salt, so I went easy on the salt, but I’m thinking it would be good to increase the salt to 3 or 4 tablespoons, especially if you are not using sea salt. The cumin could be a little stronger but too much cumin ruins the whole thing, so I was very cautious with it. I was aiming for 2 tablespoons each of peppercorn and ground mustard, but ran out so I cut it back to 4 teaspoons.

Having said that, this recipe is pretty amazing the way it stands now.

Rib Rub:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons sea salt

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons chili powder

4 teaspoons peppercorn, whole

4 teaspoons ground mustard

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Grind the peppercorns (I used a coffee grinder) and mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl with your fingers or in your food processor. One batch of rub will do several racks of ribs. I made six batches and it would probably have seasoned 18 racks.

Pour it into a shaker for sprinkling over meat or even eggs and popcorn. (It really is good enough to put on your Cheerios.) Store any leftover seasoning in an airtight container.

Once you start making your own seasonings, you will get hooked with the intense fragrance and flavor of the freshly ground and mixed spices. Mix up some rib rub for your next batch of ribs and discover how easy and fun a homemade rub can be!

Stay tuned for my next blog post on how I cooked 12 racks of ribs on my backyard Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker, including a mistake I made that burned up some of the ribs.

…also watch for my brand new smoked pork ribs recipe with tips, tricks, and mouth-watering photos to help you master smoked ribs.

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Please send me the recipe on the BEST way YOU cook Brisket to come out beautiful,moist, and NOT lking like a black rock. Ya know,” dark rose ” Please help me be a great brisket man. God Bless You for your help. Patrick Molz

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Hey Lavern, love reading every email I get from you. I love to BBQ and do most on a weber 22″ kettle with kingsford charcoal. I have a weber geneses with side burner gas grill but i like old school charcoal. Found your site about 5 years ago and trying to save enough money to get one of your units. Love all you do. Live in rural New Brunswick Canada so its a bit hard but I will someday own own one of your smokers!!!!! Thanks for keeping me informed on how the rest of the world does it . Graham

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I’m very interested in rub recipes with little on no salt in them. I was wondering if you ever experiment with reduced or no salt recipes. I know salt is used as a bulk filler and flavor, but too many times the flavor is too strong and the jacked up blood pressure experience makes me steer away from the commercial rubs.

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I would love to hear about how you did your 10 pounds of shrimp on your Weber. I am looking to buy one of your hog roasters and go into a small business just doing meat. It would be cool to offer a good BBQ shrimp, as most of the BBQ shrimp just comes out way too dry and rubbery. Thanks